A variety of infant fluid drinking containers have heretofore been proposed, illustrative of which are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 212,921 granted to Carl M. Bloomber on Dec. 10, 1968 and 288,127 granted to William Shannon on Feb. 3, 1987; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,145,867 granted to Edwin T. Roberts et al. on Aug. 25, 1964, 3,990,596 granted to Moshe Hoftman on Nov. 9, 1976, 4,557,392 granted to Kathryn A. Ryan et al. on Dec. 10, 1985, and 4,676,387 granted to Jim D. Stephenson et al. on June 30, 1987. As will be observed from reference to these patents, various proposals have been made to increase the usefulness and versatility of infant fluid drinking containers.
While some of the currently available infant fluid drinking containers perform effectively, it has been found that their usefulness is often proscribed by certain limitations. Thus, for example, some of them do not readily admit of use by the infant itself. Others are difficult to clean and sterilize, and others may be difficult or excessively costly to manufacture.
Accordingly, there has continued to be a need for a fluid feeding product that permits use by an infant without assistance while in both a vertical and horizontal attitude, is easy to clean, can be readily manufactured and is versatile in use.